Head to head, paid tier against paid tier
Kin Album app vs FamilyAlbum Premium (2026)
FamilyAlbum's Premium Family plan is the fair thing to put beside a Kin Album subscription: FamilyAlbum's free version is unlimited with ads, and Kin Album's free plan holds 3 GB. Paying FamilyAlbum removes the ads and lengthens the videos; it does not stop the resizing or give the company any less access to the photos. Kin Album keeps the originals, shows no ads at any tier, and is the only album here whose company cannot open them. Kin Album is made by the company that runs this site.
In short: Kin Album wins on the criteria this site weights most — originals kept, no ads at any tier, and a company that cannot open the photos. FamilyAlbum Premium wins on price ($59 a year against $89.99), on Android, on a free first month, and on relatives who upload their own photos. Kin Album is made by the company that runs this site.
| Criterion | Kin Album* | FamilyAlbum |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free for 3 GB; $9.99/mo or $89.99/yr for unlimited[1][2] | Free with ads; Premium Family $5.99/mo or $59/yr[3][4] |
| Do relatives have to pay? | No[2] | No — one plan covers the album[4] |
| Storage limit | Free: 3 GB shared; subscription: unlimited[1][2] | Unlimited, free[4][5] |
| Photos kept at full quality? | Yes — originals[2][6] | No — uploads and downloads are resized[7] |
| Video limits | About 9 min on a subscription, 3 min free; over 400 MB saved smaller[2] | 2 min free; 10 min on Premium[8][3] |
| Ads? | No[1] | Yes, on the free version (third-party ads)[3] |
| AI or face recognition run on your photos? | No — can't; photos encrypted before upload[1][6] | Yes — face recognition for 1s Movies, stickers and Personal Pages; AI search on Premium Pro; no switch described[9][10] |
| Can the company open your photos? | No — end to end, with disclosed exceptions[6] | Yes — in transit only; staff access for support[11] |
| Can family look without installing an app? | Yes — any browser, or by email[1] | Yes — browser-version invitation[12][13] |
| Do viewers need an account? | Partly Members sign in; email recipients don't[1] | Yes — web login or app account[12] |
| Can family add their own photos? | Partly — admins post[1] | Partly — app members, if an admin allows[13] |
| Can you leave with everything? | Yes — originals, from the phone or the website (admins)[2][1] | Partly — downloads are the resized copies[7][13] |
| Platforms | iPhone app (not in the App Store yet when checked) + any browser; no Android app[1][2] | iOS, Android, browser version[12][8] |
| App Store label: data used to track you | Label not yet published when checked[1] | Yes Identifiers used to track you[14] |
| How it makes money | Subscription only[2] | Ads, Premium, prints and photobooks[3][5] |
* Kin Album is made by Cobblestone, LLC, which runs this site. Compared on the same criteria as every other app here; no app pays us anything.
Where they differ
What paying buys. FamilyAlbum’s Premium Family plan removes third-party ads, lifts the video limit from 2 to 10 minutes, and adds uploading from a computer, for everyone in the album. It doesn’t change the two things its own help pages are plainest about: uploads are “slightly resized”, and what you download back is the resized copy. Kin Album has nothing to remove — no ads at any price — and stores the original.
Who can open the photos. FamilyAlbum encrypts in transit and says authorised employees may access data to provide support and operate the service; it makes no end-to-end claim. Kin Album encrypts on the phone and says its servers hold “ciphertext and wrapped keys” and cannot decrypt the photos or videos, with captions, comments and names, preview copies made while anyone in the album gets photos by email, and invitations emailed from the iPhone app disclosed as the exceptions.
Price. Paid against paid, FamilyAlbum costs about 34% less: $59 a year for Premium Family against $89.99 a year for Kin Album, and FamilyAlbum gives first-time subscribers a month free where Kin Album gives no trial. Premium Family Pro, the 1080p tier, is $109 a year, more than Kin Album’s price.
Video. FamilyAlbum Premium: up to 10 minutes, at a maximum of 720p on Premium Family or 1080p on Premium Family Pro. Kin Album, on a subscription: up to about 9 minutes; the iPhone keeps a video up to 400 MB as recorded and saves a longer one smaller so it fits. On their free tiers, FamilyAlbum allows 2 minutes and Kin Album about 3. Close on length; FamilyAlbum caps every video’s resolution, Kin Album reduces only the ones over 400 MB.
Relatives. Both reach a relative with nothing installed: FamilyAlbum’s browser-version invitation (a link and a web login; view and comment, no uploading), Kin Album’s browser view after signing in or its email recipients, who need no account at all. On contributing, FamilyAlbum has the edge: app members can upload if an admin enables it, where on Kin Album only admins post.
Platforms. FamilyAlbum runs on iOS and Android and, on Premium, uploads from a computer. Kin Album is iPhone plus any browser, with no Android app; Android relatives view in a browser or by email.
The tracking label. FamilyAlbum’s App Store label lists Identifiers as data used to track you and ties location, identifiers and usage data to third-party advertising; paying doesn’t change the label. Kin Album’s label had not been published when we checked, so that row can’t be scored yet.
Who should pick which
On this site’s criteria Kin Album wins this one, and it isn’t close on the rows the criteria weight most: originals kept, no ads at any tier, and a company that cannot open the photos. FamilyAlbum Premium wins on price, on Android, on a free first month, and on relatives who upload their own photos — and if a resized copy is fine for the family album and the originals live on your phone, that is a reasonable trade at about two-thirds of the price. Kin Album is made by the company that runs this site; every row above links to its source, so check the ones that decide it for you.
Sources
- Kin Album — kinalbum.com home page, checked 2026-10-14
Kin Album is a private family photo album for the people you invite and no one else. Photos and videos are end-to-end encrypted, so Kin Album can't look at them … Free for 3 GB, about 1,000 photos, shared by every album you own · unlimited for $9.99 a month or $89.99 a year · relatives never have to pay … You are not the only one who can post — make someone else an admin and their photos land in the same album … There are no ads in Kin Album. It is paid for by subscriptions, and that is the whole business … No AI on your photos. Ever. … Stop paying and the album moves to the free plan; nothing is deleted for two years, and never without 90 days’ notice and a free export … Family can look in the app on an iPhone or iPad, or in any browser on a computer. Or just email them the photos, with no app and no account at all … If you invite her as a member, she signs in once. If you add her as an email recipient, the photos just arrive in her email. She needs no account … Albums are created in the iPhone app. Invited family on a computer or an Android phone join right here. On an iPhone or iPad, their invite link gets them the app. The app isn't in the App Store yet.
- Kin Album — Kin Album — Help (updated 12 Oct 2026), checked 2026-10-14
An album without a subscription is on the free plan. It holds 3 GB of photos and videos, about 1,000 photos … A subscription costs $9.99 a month or $89.99 a year … Relatives never have to pay on either plan … Your albums move to the free plan. Everyone can still look and comment. You can still export everything, so you can take it all with you whenever you like. New photos and videos can still be added while the albums you own fit in the free plan’s 3 GB … Relatives who get Instant emails get a daily one until you subscribe again. Nothing is deleted for two years, and never without 90 days’ notice and a free export first … With a subscription, a video can be up to about 9 minutes. The iPhone keeps a video up to 400 MB as you recorded it, and saves a longer one smaller so it fits. On the free plan, a video can be up to about 3 minutes … If you're an album admin, you can save a copy of your whole album any time. There is no fee and no waiting period. In the iPhone app, go to Settings → Export. On kinalbum.com, go to Settings → Save a copy of your album. Your phone or your web browser unlocks the photos. Then it saves a zip of the original files right on your device … Every album you own without a subscription shares that space. Videos can be up to about 3 minutes each, and up to 130 MB … You get email updates daily, weekly or monthly … You also get Instant email updates. Any album, on either plan, can add up to 20 GB of photos and videos in a day … After that, an album without a subscription is deleted in two cases. The first is if its owner's albums without one hold more than the free plan's 3 GB. The second is if no member has opened it for two years, in the app or on the web … Gift time is 1, 3, 6 or 12 months, bought once in the Kin Album app on iPhone … The family never sees who gave or how much … A parent who starts their album from the link never sees a price … Kin Album never gets your contact list … Your encryption key is backed up automatically through iCloud Keychain … There is no import tool, and the encryption is the reason … You can post up to ten photos or videos at a time … Either one starts a 30-day countdown … You'd hear from us at least 90 days ahead … And if another company ever takes over Kin Album, it has to keep these promises … Subscriptions are the entire business. They pay for the free plan too … The share sheet is photos-only for now. Videos post from inside the app.
- FamilyAlbum — FamilyAlbum Premium — plans page, checked 2026-09-12
One $2.99 USD/month · Family $5.99 USD/month, $59 USD/year · Family Pro $10.99 USD/month, $109 USD/year … No Third-Party Ads — [Premium] … Some of the best memories last longer than 2 minutes. With a FamilyAlbum Premium plan, upload videos up to 10 minutes long … Max Resolution: Premium Family Pro 1920 x 1080, Premium Family 1280 x 720.
- FamilyAlbum — Help: What's the difference between FamilyAlbum Premium and the free version?, checked 2026-09-12
The free version of FamilyAlbum includes unlimited storage and uploads. (Videos must be shorter than 2 minutes in length) … When one member subscribes an album to a family plan, all members of that album get access to Premium features.
- FamilyAlbum — family-album.com home page, checked 2026-09-12
Free Unlimited Storage … Get 11 Free Prints Every Month … Ready to Go Photobooks … Only family members you invite can see your album.
- Kin Album — Kin Album — Security (updated 6 Oct 2026), checked 2026-10-14
Photos and videos are end-to-end encrypted for everyone who uses Kin Album, in the app or on the website. They are encrypted on your iPhone before they are uploaded … Our servers store ciphertext and wrapped keys. We cannot decrypt your photos or videos … Captions, comments, and names are stored readably … While anyone in an album gets photos in their emails, a preview-size copy of every photo posted to that album, by every member, is made outside the encryption and stored with us, beside the encrypted originals, so the emails can show the photos. Each preview copy is deleted about 30 days after its photo was posted … An invitation emailed from the iPhone app carries, in its link, a secret made for that invitation, which unlocks a copy of the album key we store for it … So until the invitation ends, we could in principle recover the album key. The link stops working 14 days after it is sent … Push notifications never contain a photo, a caption, or the text of a comment … a photo or video you choose to attach when you use Contact us in the iPhone app goes to our support team as it is — it isn’t end-to-end encrypted
- FamilyAlbum — Help: Do you resize uploads?, checked 2026-09-12
Currently, photos and videos uploaded to FamilyAlbum are slightly resized … Please note that the photos and videos downloaded from FamilyAlbum and placed on FamilyAlbum DVDs are the resized versions.
- FamilyAlbum — Help: What restrictions are there on uploading photos and videos?, checked 2026-09-12
There's no limit to the amount you can upload for free, and videos can be up to 2 minutes long. (Maximum video length is increased to 10 minutes with FamilyAlbum Premium.) … Uploading via computer is a Premium feature.
- FamilyAlbum — MIXI — The tech behind FamilyAlbum, checked 2026-10-17
FamilyAlbum utilizes machine learning … all while protecting privacy … First, we utilize deep learning to identify faces/people in photos … This feature makes use of AI-based similarity search … AI is used to detect, filter, and rate the best photos for stickers … Detect faces in photos, determine pose and age … AI is also used in the creation of Personal Pages … automatically identify faces by getting the feature vectors for each face … use a machine learning technique called clustering to separate them into groups.
- FamilyAlbum — FamilyAlbum Privacy Policy (full text), checked 2026-10-18
Last updated 10/02/2026 … Perceptual hashes of photographs and video clips, feature vectors representing visual content of photographs and video clips, feature vectors of users' faces, face detection results of each user (including face orientation data and face detection confidence scores), the estimated gender and age of each user's face, results of classifications of facial images of each user (used for album function for each user) … Certain information described above may be processed solely on the user's device and may not be transmitted to us … Biometric information … We use Anthropic's AI models to process only text data within AWS-managed infrastructure.
- FamilyAlbum — FamilyAlbum User Privacy Policy, checked 2026-09-12
Data transferred between your device and our servers is encrypted using the latest encryption technology … We don't sell your data to any third parties … Authorized employees or affiliates to provide customer support, operate our services …
- FamilyAlbum — Help: What's the difference between the app version and browser version?, checked 2026-09-12
If you invite family to the browser version, they will be able to view and comment on your album without downloading the app … Browser-version invitations contain a unique link that the invitee can easily open to access your album.
- FamilyAlbum — Help: What's the difference between Album Admins and Album Members?, checked 2026-09-12
Upload photos and videos — Album Admin ✔ · Album Member (App) △ Must be enabled by an Album Admin · Album Member (Browser) × … Download photos and videos — △ May be disabled by an Album Admin.
- FamilyAlbum — App Store listing: FamilyAlbum — App Privacy, checked 2026-09-12
Data Used to Track You: Identifiers. Data Linked to You — Third-Party Advertising: Location, Identifiers, Usage Data, Diagnostics … In-App Purchases: Premium Family $5.99 · Premium Family Pro $10.99 · Premium Family (Yearly) $59.00 · Premium Family Pro (Yearly) $109.00 · Premium One $2.99.
Questions people ask
Does FamilyAlbum Premium keep photos at full quality?
No. FamilyAlbum’s help centre says uploads are ‘slightly resized’ and that downloads and DVDs are the resized versions; the Premium plans page lists a maximum video resolution of 1280 × 720 for Premium Family and 1920 × 1080 for Premium Family Pro. Kin Album says it stores the encrypted original and exports ‘the original files’.
Which costs more, Kin Album or FamilyAlbum Premium?
Kin Album: $89.99 a year or $9.99 a month for unlimited, after a free plan of 3 GB; no trial. FamilyAlbum Premium Family: $5.99 a month or $59 a year, with a free month for first-time subscribers; Premium Family Pro is $10.99 a month or $109 a year. Both cover everyone in the album.
Does paying for FamilyAlbum remove the tracking?
The Premium plans page lists ‘No Third-Party Ads’ as a Premium feature. The App Store privacy label, which applies to the app as a whole, lists Identifiers under data used to track you, and location, identifiers and usage data linked to you for third-party advertising. Kin Album’s label had not been published when we checked.